University of Tennessee students line up in between classes to pledge to speak up against sexual ...more

University of Tennessee students line up in between classes to pledge to speak up against sexual assault and receive a "does not mean yes" t-shirt during a Red Zone event held outside of the Alumni Memorial Building on UT's campus on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017.

BRIANNA PACIORKA/NEWS SENTINEL

At the University of Tennessee, the number of complaints grew from 129 in 2016 to 166 in 2017.

The Tennessee Board of Regents, meanwhile, reported 21 complaints in 2017, down from 200 in 2016.

The Tennessee FOCUS Act, which took effect in July 2016, created new governing boards for six state universities previously under the TBR, accounting for a decrease in complaints reported through the board.

Instead, Title IX complaints for those six schools are now listed separately in the report.

The six universities previously under TBR reported the following numbers:

Austin Peay State University, 25 complaints

East Tennessee State University, 27 complaints

Middle Tennessee State University, 29 complaints

Tennessee State University, 9 complaints

Tennessee Technological University, 23 complaints

University of Memphis, 152 complaints

The annual comptroller's report monitors state agencies subject to Title IX, a federal law prohibiting gender-based discrimination in education.

Those also include the Tennessee Department of Education, which reported just one Title IX complaint in 2017; and the Department of Finance and Administration - TennCare, which reported 13 complaints in 2017.

Other state agencies included in the report did not report any Title IX complaints for 2017.

The increase in reports at the University of Tennessee builds upon an increase last year from 54 complaints in 2015 to 129 in 2016.

Ashley Blamey, who currently serves as Title IX coordinator for both UT Knoxville and the UT system, reiterated that message Tuesday, saying in a statement that UT "credits the increased number of incidents reported to proactive efforts to encourage reporting and to increased training."